The Race To The Sun....

Normally at this time of year it is Belgium and the early Spring Classic ‘’pro’’ races, Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne plus the rain, wind, cold and cyclosportives that accompany these early season openers.

This year with maybe old age and getting soft, I opted for the South of France, a bit of March sunshine, hopefully shedding some of the winter clothing for a few days and so why not combine five days in Nice with the famous week long Paris-Nice pro race…..’’The Race to the Sun’’.  It starts in the cold of Northern France and winds it’s way South, hopefully to warmer climes.

This race is a great opener for the serious grand Tour contenders and the winners list is a who’s who of great past and present cyclists, I was hoping to see the last stage plus ride the Paris-Nice sportive the day before, also get some warm miles in to help me try and cope with the bashing I get every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening back in Blighty.

So, Thursday,  Easy Jet, Gatwick to Nice, £58 return plus £60 for the bike, very early flight, taxi to hotel, put bikes together and the afternoon spent on the coast road to Cannes and back, 55 miles, short sleeve jerseys and shorts, nice views, big yachts everywhere plus a chance for me to get spotted as maybe the new James Bond.

My travelling companion and myself stayed in a 3 star hotel, centre of town  for about £23 per night each, brekkie extra, this time of year prices are excellent, Nice is a busy but laid back sort of town, plenty of stuff going on, lots of restaurants and bars and the plus of great cycling on quiet roads along the coast or up into the mountains

The pros arrive

  Friday, train to Ventimiglia on the Italian border (40 minutes) then 25 miles along a super coastal cycle path to San Lorenzo della Mare, lunch and then a bit of iconic cycling…..San Lorenzo is where the Cipressa climb starts, as used in the Milan-San Remo classic,  it is 3 mile climb, then back down to the main road, another 8 miles and up the Poggio, this is the hill that decides Milan-San Remo, if you are  not near the front at the summit then you are finished . There is a very fast and technical descent down to San Remo and the finish line, Mark and myself could not do a ‘’sprint’’ due to afternoon traffic, they should have closed the roads for us.  The evening was spent in Monte Carlo where I tried to find a cheap yacht and watched FC Monaco draw 2-2 with Stade Reims, a top division match and only 20 euros to get in

Saturday and the big day, the Paris-Nice sportive, 78 miles over 4 ‘’Cols’’.  803 amateurs and a smattering of former pro’s lined up at 8am on the Promenade des  Anglais, numbers attached (with timing chips for the two timed climbs). This exact route would be ridden by the pro’s the next day as their final race stage, it was medium and low mountains, 2300 metres of climbing but enough for the middle of March. Off we went, closed roads for the first 10 miles, of course I let the younger, fitter contestants get a bit ahead of me with the intention of catching and breaking them later in the day but it never happened.

The start of the final stage.

The sun was shining, the event was very well organised, sweat was in abundance up the climbs which varied from 4 to 6 miles in length, scenery was stunning and I had a 13 mile descent to the finish line back in Nice where a medal was placed around my neck and a well earned sit on the beach was taken

Sunday and back to the Promenade to watch the start of the pro race, these smaller events are great for getting amongst the riders, looking at the bikes, feeling the vibes, there are no barriers between the fans and riders, of course you respect their need to get ready for a hard days racing, there is no  ‘’Oi Contador, how about a selfie’’.

Terry enjoys the glorious coastal views 

The rest of the day was spent cycling around the headlands before returning to Nice for the race finish, Geraint Thomas (Sky) won by 4 seconds overall from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), it was a hard fought week of racing.

Monday and time to go home, but I had booked the latest flight I could, 7pm, YES!!!! Which meant a whole days riding, so off we went, over the Col d’Eze and down to Menton, glorious coastal views.

Making the most of the final day before flying back to blighty.

From Menton the idea was to climb the Col de la Madone (937 metres and 9 miles in length)  , this ascent  has been made famous by a certain Lance Armstrong who used to judge his ‘’numbers’’ by  going up it as fast as he could, 34 minutes being his best time. Of course, me being ‘’clean’’, old, arthritic plus a false hip it was going to take a bit longer, 58 minutes and my ‘’numbers’’ equated to ‘’sack of potatoes’’




From the summit, a super descent back to Nice, 60 miles done, quick cake on the beach, bikes packed, taxi to airport and home, I do not think we were very popular on the plane as we had’nt had time for a wash, sort of smelled a bit sweaty, even the Air Hostesses  avoided us.
 Total of 250 miles in five days, loads of ‘’Cols’’, plenty of sun, the odd glass of wine or two, I recommend it to all.

Terry